Obituaries: Hooker, O'Connor & Lemmon

Celebrities die in threes. Everybody’s heard that and some people believe it wholeheartedly. Most of us believe it enough that when we hear of the death of a famous person, we start the counter running and wonder who will be numbers two and three. As an alternative type, I would like to believe that this superstition is true, but experience has taught me that sometimes the great die alone or in pairs. When they do fall as a trio, the superstitious side of me pats myself on the back smugly. Often, the congratulation is too soon. Sometimes celebrities die in fours.

John Lee Hooker, Carol O’Connor and Jack Lemmon all died one after the other, as if the grim reaper had returned from holiday and had to make up for lost time. Or maybe he was just working in Hollywood that week, I don’t know. But I do know that we’ve lost three great talents and the world will be poorer for it. Thankfully, none of them died young.

I met John Lee Hooker about twenty years ago. At the time I was writing a weekly rock music column for an entertainment newspaper in Monterey, California and “the Hook” was appearing on a Friday night at the Oz Restaurant, at the time the community’s major rock venue. Hooker and the band were in good form. The performance was tight and raunchy; a real crowd pleaser. Late in the evening, about an hour before closing time, George Thorogood showed-up. He drove down from San Francisco, after giving a concert, to see his hero perform.

Back then, I took my own photographs for my column. As “the Hook” and the band played the second set, I went down in front of the stage and fiddled with the settings on my old manual Minolta before I began snapping. I hadn’t taken too many pictures before Hooker, who played while sitting in a chair, noticed me and began posing and mugging for the camera. For years afterwards, until I lost them, I treasured those black and white photos of the great John Lee Hooker staring directly into my camera lens and looking as bad as bad can be.

Like most of the great and legendary bluesmen of his generation, it’s doubtful if Hooker would’ve achieved much recognition if it hadn’t been for the “British Invasion” that swept the rock music world after the arrival of The Beatles. Until then, American blues was confined to the ghetto, considered much too black to be made palatable for white audiences. It wasn’t until Eric Burdon, Clapton and the Rolling Stones began recording songs written by American blues greats that we began to recognize the talent of people who were making great music in the juke joints just across town.

In many ways, Carol O’Connor was the exact opposite of “the Hook.” He came to fame playing the lovable bigot Archie Bunker, just the type of white American patriarch who would forbid his daughter to listen to the “race music” of John Lee Hooker, B. B. King, Mama Thornton and the like. During the numerous tributes to his life that aired immediately after his death, it became obvious how courageous this actor had been when he took the role.

Gloria, Meathead, Edith & (of course) Archie

All In The Family took the risk of alienating the whole country. The liberals, perhaps, wouldn’t like the show because it trivialized bigotry and racial injustice. The bigots were bound to hate it, because they liked to have their laughs at other people’s expense, never their own. The black community would be sure to misunderstand it, because it made bigotry seem dangerously lovable.

Although there were a few grumblings at first, from all of these groups, the show proved itself to be one the most influential comedies that television ever produced. This wasn’t because the show contained great writing or acting – it was really pretty common sitcom fare – but because it gave America the opportunity to look into her own soul. Archie, Edith, Meathead and Gloria helped us to see that we’re all funny, we’re all stupid, we all have moments of wisdom, we all love our families and we’re all struggling to survive the best we can.

Like Carol O’Connor, the backbone of Jack Lemmon’s career was in playing the “everyman” role. But there was no controversy here, just a dedication to honing the craft of acting. Actually, it’s surprising that he became a star at all. He wasn’t a macho action figure. Certainly, he was never known for his sex appeal. None of his films were big blockbusters, most being small to normal budget affairs that simply told a well crafted story. But America identified with the parts he played, which usually depicted a regular guy trying to cope with everyday situations.

Jack Lemmon

On the surface, none of these three men personify the alternative approaches that we often cover in this magazine. But blues players like John Lee Hooker showed us that great music and musical genres know no socioeconomic boundaries. Carol O’Connor made us laugh at our differences during a time when our nation was being torn apart by divisiveness. Jack Lemmon comforted us with the knowledge that we weren’t the only ones who got confused and confounded by everyday situations.

Sometimes the deaths of the great do happen in threes, just like the superstition says. Unless they happen in fours. The day after Jack Lemmon passed away, Chet Atkins died.

©Copyright 2000 by AlternativeApproaches.com